Abstract [en]

The main purpose of this essay has been to discover shortcomings in the Criminal law conserning sexual offences and in the application of this law. The primary material of the study has therefore been two different government bills considering 2005 and 2013 years’ provisions on rape, three rape cases, and the proposal for a new provision on rape based on consent as the primary legal definition of rape. From gender theories about power, gender and sexuality I have used discourse analysis as a method to analyze the material to see how the government relates to these questions when reasoning around a new provision on rape. I have also tried to examine why there are so few rape cases that get convicted by analyzing the cases to see how the judges reason around the woman´s responsibility in the events. Another purpose has been to examine how the new potential provision on rape built on consent could change the situation for the woman in rape cases. My conclusions are that there are flaws in the way that the rape provision is built and that a new law built on consent probably won´t have a significant impact on the situation of the woman other than that it might have a normative effect. The study has also shown that the government doesn’t consider elements as male dominance, gender and sexuality when arguing for a new law, which undermines the women’s situation. The study has also shown that the judges in rape cases has indirectly put responsibility on the women, while the prosecuted is acquitted due to his lack of understanding of the women’s resistance.